Free Her Dying Breath by Rita Herron

was peering at some organ in a dish. “I’ll run his blood and DNA,” he said.
    “How about the tox screen?”
    “A little Ecstasy in his system, but nothing that would have incapacitated him to the point of being unconscious when he was strangled.”
    Meaning the poor bastard had known what was happening to him.
    “What else can you tell me about him?”
    The doctor lifted his protective goggles. “Man was not a smoker, liver and heart look good. He was fit, too, probablyworked out regularly.” He hesitated, then gestured toward his abdomen. “Looks like he took a bullet once, and he had some shrapnel in his leg.”
    “Fits with his time in the service,” Nick commented.
    Dr. Bullock nodded. “Now, to the cause of death, asphyxiation. In this case, death resulted from autoerotic asphyxiation.” Bullock looked up at him. “Did you know that cases similar to this were noted dating back to the seventeenth century? The practice of autoerotic asphyxiation came about when it was noted that subjects who were hung developed erections. Some actually ejaculated, while in others the erection remained.”
    Bullock was a wealth of information. “No, I didn’t know that.”
    “It’s called a death erection,” Bullock continued. “You see, the carotid arteries in the neck carry oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the brain. Compression on the arteries, as in strangulation or hanging, creates a sudden loss of oxygen to the brain, which makes carbon dioxide accumulate. This accumulation increases feelings of giddiness, pleasure, and lightheadedness.
    “There are also abnormalities in the cerebral neurochemistry involving the interconnected neurotransmitters dopamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, and endorphin.”
    “It creates a rush?”
    “Exactly. Some people also experience hallucinations.” Bullock poked at the brain with one of his instruments. “One of the most famous cases was in Japan in the 1930s. A woman killed her lover, cut off his penis and testicles, and carried them around in her pocket for several days.”
    “Ouch,” Nick muttered. “She was sick.”
    Dr. Bullock shrugged. “Definitely.” He indicated bruises on the man’s chest. “It looks like she strangled the man, then revived him. My first thought was that it was accidental and she tried to save him. But—”
    He indicated the ligature marks on the man’s neck. “Judging from the number of ligature compressions, she saved him only to strangle him again.”
    “My god,” Nick said as he counted them. “There are twenty-one different slash marks in his skin.”
    “Like I said, I think the unsub killed him, then revived him and killed him again.”
    Nick tried to comprehend the mindset of a person who would repeatedly strangle another human. Was the crime personal? Someone who had a grudge against Logger?
    Or a crime of passion where the sex act turned ugly?
    “Did you find any other forensics?” he asked.
    Dr. Bullock shook his head. “So far, no hair or skin cells. Looks like she was careful and knew what she was doing.”
    Nick frowned. “You think it was a female?”
    “Judging from the sexual act and the position of the body, yes. If a male, a gay man, had committed this murder, he would have left him facedown. There are also no signs of anal sex.”
    Nick contemplated his comment. “Which brings us back to the fact that Logger is a big muscular guy who walked into that motel room expecting a good time.”
    “It may have been good until his lover turned psycho on him,” Bullock said.
    Nick nodded. “Either way, this perpetrator has a sadistic side. If she knew him, the kill could be personal. If not…”
    “Then you’re dealing with a psychopath.” Bullock rolled the body sideways. “Take a look at this.”
    Nick leaned over, his heart racing when he saw what Bullock was pointing to. “Jesus. She carved a number behind the man’s ear.”
    “Number one.”
    “Because this was her first victim,” Nick muttered.
    Nick